The present invention described herein is a further development of Applicants' issued U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,058 B2, which discloses a method for producing clean energy from coal. This development resides in improving the referenced method as follows:                Eliminating lockhopper feed;        Enhancing the flow of the solid fuel to prevent bridging;        Eliminating the use of pulverized feed;        Providing Gasifier lining protection to extend refractory life;        Enabling the use of solid fuels that contain high moisture, such as sub-bituminous coal, without drying, while using the moisture advantageously to produce water gas;        Providing low input of oxygen;        Improving oxygen injection;        Providing a pressure seal made from the solid fuel feed with features for the automatic maintenance of operating process pressure within the Gasifier;        Providing the capability to capture greenhouse gases such as a flue gas containing N2 and CO2; and        Processing the flue gas to make a useful by-product such as a fertilizer.Objective        
The overall objective of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus that consolidate the above-mentioned improvements, and other related improvements, into an approach which is more efficient, less costly and badly needed in the field of energy production from fossil fuels and especially from abundant coal that is prevalent in many parts of this planet. This overall objective will become more apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the description and appended claims. It is to be noted that the above-mentioned improvements are not only applicable to Applicants' referenced patent but also to gasification processes of others, such as the entrained bed, the fixed bed and the fluidized bed. With respect to the entrained bed, the disadvantageous features are: coal pulverization, coal/water slurry, large water requirement, excess oxygen consumption, poor lining life and high capital cost. With respect to the fixed bed, the disadvantageous features are: generation of cancer-causing agents, inability to use caking coals, water contamination requiring extensive water treatment facilities, and high capital cost. With respect to the fluidized bed, the disadvantageous features are: coal pulverization, non-caking coals, and high capital cost. None of the gasification processes mentioned above, in exclusion of the Applicants', possesses hot gas cleanup above 600° C., nor the conversion of flue gas, a greenhouse gas consisting of N2+CO2, into a useful by-product.
Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification. It is to be noted that the embodiments shown herein are for the purpose of description and not limitation.
Before proceeding with the detailed description of the invention by making use of the drawings, it is to be noted that for the sake of clarity reference will be made with numerals and letters to identify the various components of the apparatus. The method will be described by way of example as it relates to the gasification of coal, with full cognizance that the method is capable of processing other solid fuels.